Buying Laptop

R

rame

New Member
Hi,

I am looking my first laptop. I am a web developer and would need it to be quite fast.As I have never used laptops before I have no idea of their efficiency and how to judge them.

Can any deveopers or anyone help me what kind of processor and memory specs should I look for.
And what else should I look for in a good laptop.
Also I wouldnt want to pay more then $2000 - 2200.
Can it be possible that I can completely replace my PC with laptop in relation to my work at this price?
Does 2.0 GHz see with 1GB memory sound a good enough spec for running visual studio and developing huge projets??

Any suggestions welcome.
Thanks a lot
 
I would get a Pentium M with 1GB of DDR2. The Pentium M's dont have very high clockspeeds, but they run extremely well. I'd say get a Pentium M between 1.73Ghz - 2.16Ghz. And you can get a very good laptop with a PM for under $1500.
 
i would also pay great attention to the hard drive, and i dont mean the drive space.

a lot of laptops come with 4200 rpm hard drives with only a 2mb cache. i would at least try to get one that is 5400rpm and definatly and 8mb cache. the cache is key.

of course, if u cant find one that comes with a larger cache, you can replace it later. newegg is ure friend :)
 
As a web developer, you may not need the fastest hardware on the market. Which can lower your budget by half. But if you're looking for style and future-proofing for a little while then, I guess you might as well get something in that price range. Do you have any preferences? I take it that you want a normal ratio screen (non-widescreen)? glossy or matte? 15" okay or 17"? Card reader, etc...
 
in my working with visual studio, i have noticed that although it does not require large amounts of ram, i would not run it with under a gig, especially if you are running other programs, for databases for example. As for the processor, a pentium m mobile processor would be your best bet, like geoff suggested. Visual studio will not push your processor too hard unless you are running many processes along with it.

still keep in mind that visual studio 2005 is out, and the hardware requirements are naturally slightly higher than those of the 2003 edition
 
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Thanks and sorry I meant the AU $2000 not USD. So that would probably be about 1500 -1700 USD.

Also I wanted to ask if it is possible to upgrade a laptops processor?
Is there really much difference between 1.7 or 1.8 or 2 GHZ processor given that I have same RAM becuse their seems to be considerable price differnece.
I was thinking of buying 1.7 and getting 1GB or 2GB RAM what do you think?
 
rame said:
...Also I wanted to ask if it is possible to upgrade a laptops processor?
Is there really much difference between 1.7 or 1.8 or 2 GHZ processor given that I have same RAM becuse their seems to be considerable price differnece.
I was thinking of buying 1.7 and getting 1GB or 2GB RAM what do you think?
Click to expand...
You may not notice a difference between 1.7 & 1.8, you will see a difference between 1.7 & 2.0. Same thing with 1gb & 2gb. I would go lower with the 1 gb and up the 1.7 to a 1.8. And yes, you can upgrade your mobile processor in the future.
 
How does this system look? For AUD $2200 thats about $1700 USD
Intel Pentium M Processor 750 1.86GHz, 512MB RAM, 80GB HDD, 15.4" TruBrite Widescreen, DL SuperMultui DVD burner.

Features: PROCESSOR - Intel Pentium M Processor 750 1.86GHz with Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology (533MHz FSB)
MEMORY - 512MB DDR2 (533) 1 free memory slot. Total memory expandable to 2GB
HARD DRIVE - 80GB (5400rpm) SATA
OPTICAL DRIVE - DVD SuperMulti Double⁄Dual Layer Drive
READ AND WRITE SPEED - Read: CD-ROM, DVD-ROM 8x, Write; CD-R 24x, CD-RW 4x, HS CD-RW 10x, DVD-R 8x, DVD-R DL 2x, DVD-RW 4x, DVD+R 8x, DVD+R DL 2.4x, DVD+RW 4x, DVD-RAM 5x
COLOUR DISPLAY - 15.4" TruBrite Widescreen WIDEview XGA (CSV High-brightness) Active Matrix colour display
RESOLUTION - 1280 x 800
VIDEO - ATI MOBILITY RADEON X700 SE with 128MB dedicated video memory with hyperMemory (PCI Express 16x)
TV-OUT PORT - S-Video
AUDIO - AC '97 Software Sound with Direct3DSound
LAN - 10⁄100 Base TX Ethernet, Integrated Intel Pro 2915 802.11abg wireless LAN
MODEM - International V.92 data modem + fax
SPEAKERS - Premium harman⁄kardon speakers
CARD READER - 5-in-1 card reader adapter
DISKETTE DRIVE - Not specified by Manufacturer
USB PORT - 3 x Hi-Speed USB 2.0
PARALLEL PORT - Not specified by Manufacturer
SERIAL PORT - Not specified by Manufacturer
PC CARD SLOT - One PC Card slot supports one Type II PC Card, Express Card
IEEE1394 PORT - Yes
INFRA-RED PORT - Not specified by Manufacturer
BLUE TOOTH - Toshiba Bluetooth V2.0 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
SECURITY OPTIONS - Not specified by Manufacturer
SOFTWARE - Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2 (OEM), Toshiba Assist, Toshiba Console & Utilities, Toshiba Touch & Launch, Microsoft OneNote 2003, Record Now! Basic for TOSHIBA, DLA for Toshiba, ConfigFree, Toshiba Speech System, Intervideo WinDVD, Intervideo WinDVD Creator 2 Platinum, Norton Antivirus 2005 (90 day subscription), Adobe Acrobat Reader
ESTIMATED BATTERY LIFE - To be confirmed
WEIGHT - Approximately 2.71kg
WARRANTY - 1 year international parts and labour warranty
CONTACT NUMBER FOR WARRANTY, SERVICE & SUPPORT - 13 30 70
 
Hi,
Here's another deal I got 2.0GHZ, 1GB RAM. But the brand is Clevo is it any good.Price is the same.
 
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Clevo isn't bad, they've been around for quite a while too. Just like Asus, they're an ODM (Original Design Manufacturer). They're design laptop for Hitachi's and some Dell's, I believe. Just like Asus does Sony and Apple (Compaq & Dell this upcoming year, too). Many boutique shops like VoodooPC & Alienware have used Clevo's in their line up. You just don't see their label though.
 
based on what you want to do i think you should invest in a macbook pro. may be a little pricey for you but it sports mac os x which is by far the best graphic operating system. it should do well for you.
 
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